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Video: Saving “Happy Birthday”

December 10, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Here’s a short video documentary on the sinuous story of that song everybody knows and sings and how overnight it went from being a Warner/Chappell cash cow to the public domain. The affair offers some insight into the often complicated worlds of music publishing and rights management.

For years, global music publisher Warner/Chappell claimed copyright of the “Happy Birthday” song, demanding payment for any public performance of it. Jenn Nelson tells the story of her four-year campaign to prove that the company did not in fact own the rights to the world-famous song, whose tune was composed by two sisters in Kentucky in 1893.



Previously: HERE and HERE and HERE,

Filed Under: Publishing + Copyright Tagged With: Copyright, Legal Matters, Music Publishing, Public Domain, Rights Management, Video, Warner/Chappell

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